"You Know You Are Poor If," By Rep. Joseph Mitchell

One might ask what on earth the title of this blog has to do with the Alabama Legislature?

Well, after sitting for hours at the Alabama Statehouse today listening to filibusters in both the House and Senate, Representative Joseph Mitchell enlightened us all this afternoon with his rendition of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You Know You’re a Redneck If” and replaced it with his list of “You Know You’re Poor If”. Please note that this is only a partial list from his speech.

“You Know You are Poor If”:

1. “You have to shake the ants off your laundry before taking your clothes in from drying.”

2. “If your supper is the same as what you ate for breakfast.”

3. “If you eat your lunch out of the same bowl and with the same spoon you ate your breakfast with.”

The following was yelled from the House floor adding to Rep. Mitchell’s list after he apologized for wearing sneakers to work this afternoon because he stepped in a puddle outside on his way in.

“You know you are poor if you wear white sneakers with your black suit to the floor of the Alabama House!”

Laughter throughout the House immediately followed. I think some college co-eds can relate to this list as well. Oh, our tax dollars hard at work!

In case you missed earlier blogs this week, the filibuster by the Black Caucus began in the House Tuesday after the bill which would remove the tax on groceries failed to garner enough support to go before the House membership for a vote.

Filibuster Continues in the House Due to Grocery Tax Bill

As soon as the special order calendar was introduced in the House this morning, Representative Buskey (D) expressed his disappointment in not seeing HB 116 on the calendar that would remove the grocery tax. This is the same bill that shut down the House on Tuesday after it failed to receive enough votes to move forward for a vote on the House floor.

It appears that the Black Caucus will continue to filibuster indefinitely in the House today.

Senate Electronic Bingo Bill Carried Over Once Again

The Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee carried over SB 471 addressing electronic bingo in the state for the second time. At the star-studded committee meeting two weeks ago where George Jones, Tracy Lawrence, and Darryl Worley were in attendance, the bill was carried over for a vote today; however, due to amendments being prepared to add to this bill, it was carried over yet again until next week.

The bill should be on the committee calendar for next Wednesday, April 1st.

House Brought to a Stand Still After Grocery Tax Bill Fails

This afternoon, Democrat legislators filibustered in the House after HB 116 on the repeal of the grocery tax failed to be brought for a vote. Things came to a complete stand-still at around 2:30, and the House finally adjourned at 4:54.

The filibuster may well continue on Thursday when the House reconvenes at 10:00 am. Stay tuned to find out.

Senator Barron Commended for Effort to Make Senate Calendar Available

Last week, the Senate was slowed due to the special order calendar being made available prior to session convening. Today, Senator Barron was commended for his work toward making this a possibility. It was brought to the members' attention today that the calendar is made available for prior public viewing in the following states:

Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky – available the night before
South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, Texas – day before
Virginia – by 6:00 am and the legislature convenes at 12:00 pm

Debate Begins on Grocery Tax Bill HB 116

The Alabama House began debating a bill presented by Representative Knight that would eliminate the grocery tax, HB 116.

This bill would eliminate the tax on groceries; however, to make up the foregone dollars from doing away with this tax, the deduction for federal income taxes paid on the state income tax return would be eliminated for certain citizens. According to Representative Knight, a revised version of this bill would allow married couples with an adjusted gross income of $125,000 or less as well as individuals with an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less to still be able to deduct federal income tax dollars paid from their state income tax return. Adjusted gross income is the income remaining after all deductions and adjustments are made to gross income for the tax year.

While presenting his bill, Representative Knight stated that he does not know of another issue that is as important as removing the sales tax on groceries - he is concerned about the families in Alabama that are struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table. Further, he told members that he has tried to work across party lines with this bill to address issues that are of concern.

Opponents of the bill led by Representative Mike Hubbard ( R ) of Lee County feel that many middle-class, small business owners (particularly LLC’s and LLP’s) will be adversely affected by this bill as it would serve as an income tax increase to them. He said that Republicans are not opposed to eliminating the grocery tax, but are opposed to the methods taken in this particular bill to make up the dollars lost by eliminating the grocery tax. In removing the federal income tax deduction for some, you are essentially taxing a tax by causing filers to pay state tax on the amount of tax they are paying to the federal government. In addition, Rep. Hubbard went on to say that during a time when the economy is in decline and many individuals are losing jobs, now is not the time to increase taxes on small business owners who are working to provide jobs to citizens of Alabama.

If passed, the bill would go for a vote before the citizens of Alabama, but, currently, proponents of the bill do not have enough votes in the House for the bill to be presented for a vote. The chamber is divided down party lines with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposing - Democrats lacked three votes to bring the measure forward, with one of their members, Rep. Laird, voting against it.

Republican Rep. DeMarco of Jefferson and Shelby counties expects to have an alternative bill ready soon, and HB 116 may come back for consideration later this afternoon with some changes.

Rep. James Thomas (D) Angry Over Incident at White Hall Last Week

Shortly after the House convened this afternoon at 1:00 pm, Rep. James Thomas (D) of Wilcox, Lowndes, Dallas, and Autauga counties was recognized and given time to speak on the House floor during which he angrily expressed his resentment for the raid on White Hall Casino last week. He stated that officers, under the authority of the Governors Gambling Task Force, went into the establishment with weapons drawn on unarmed, innocent workers. During the raid machines were confiscated as well as cash.

Representative Thomas said that all of this took place over a legal discrepancy, not a criminal offense, and innocent people could have been hurt over a legal disagreement. “No court has ruled that what White Hall is doing is criminal and they have a right to exist until such time as the court says that what they are doing is wrong. These officers went in on law abiding, tax paying citizens.” He further said that he “resents to hell that the Governor allowed my people to be treated like that…I could not stand still as a representative of my people if I did not let the public know how I feel.”

Representative Thomas intends to take this matter to the US Attorney General in Washington D.C.